Woodhill Forest & Rangatira Beach hike + Parakai Hot Pools

We are going to Woodhill Forest, north of Muriwai, for a winter hike through the forest (mainly commercial pine forest with some native forest in Old Lookout Biological Reserve) and along a remote stretch of Rangatira Beach, followed by a visit to hot pools in Parakai. Highlights of this walk include the nature reserve, the beach, some good views, and finding our way through the maze of tracks as a group. The pine forest offers a different experience from most hikes we do.

Large Group Warning: The group size for this hike is currently larger than ideal. New RSVPS are mainly only open now for those who want to go to hot pools after hike. This hike requires walking closely together as a group in some areas with many tracks. Take care not to keep everyone waiting before or during the hike. If you don't enjoy walking with a large group, or you're not sure you can walk the whole way with the group at a casual moderate pace, this may not be the best hike for you to attend :-)

Weather Update (Sat 3pm): Current Metservice forecast (http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/auckland) for Sunday is: "Long fine spells. Light winds. (sun symbol)". This hike is going ahead.

Distance: about 13km
Duration: 5-5½ hours (including stops)
Difficulty: average difficulty (3 on a 1-5 scale of difficulty for day hikes we do). Mostly flat with small amount of hill climbing to max elevation of 156m. Walking on forestry roads, beach, and tramping tracks, some of which are rough, overgrown, and not always easy to navigate. Longer distance than average.

Maps :

• Hand drawn map of hike route (http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/1/e/2/0/highres_9727712.jpeg)
• NZ Topo map of hike area (http://www.nztopomaps.com/-36.741016,174.404612,14,Map,100)

Route Description :
Starting from the carpark, the hike route follows a rough figure-8 variation of the Rangatira Beach "Long Loop" (see map (http://photos3.meetupstatic.com/photos/event/1/e/2/0/highres_9727712.jpeg)):

• Turn left on Boundary Road and make way to entrance of Old Lookout Biological Reserve entrance on Selwyn Road, either by road or cut across rough logging fields if we can. Entrance has prominent "Rangitira Beach Walking Track" sign.
• Follow nature reserve track southwest to highest point then northwest along ridge.
• Continue straight past track to beach on left (will come back up this way).
• Continue over reserve boundary fence and curve leftward down to Inland Road.
• Turn right and continue along road to Willets Road or cut through pine forest if can find good track.
• Continue west along Willets Road to Coast Road.
• Cross Coast Road and continue on track to Rangatira Beach.
• Turn left at beach and walk about 2km until reach access track back to Coast Road.
• Turn right and walk short distance to Puketapu Road.
• Turn left and continue on Puketapu Road to Inland Road.
• Turn right for about 200m then left at track entrance back up to reserve.
• At junction with main track of reserve, continue straight on unmarked track back to Selwyn Road.
• Find best way back to carpark from there.

Meeting Places :

• We'll be Meeting at Victoria Park New World (https://www.meetup.com/auckland-hiking/pages/Meeting_at_Victoria_Park_New_World), and arrange carpooling from there.
• Some people on North Shore are meeting 9:30am at Constellation bus station for carpooling.
• Then we'll drive to Woodhill Mountain Bike Park carpark. Follow directions to Restal Road junction (http://maps.google.co.nz/maps?saddr=Scotland+St&daddr=State+Hwy&hl=en&ll=-36.744249,174.429116&spn=0.014856,0.026822&sll=-36.742186,174.43182&sspn=0.029713,0.053644&geocode=FS28zf0dLXxqCg%3BFUFIz_0dgLdlCg&mra=mr&z=15) on SH16 to Helensville, then turn left on Restal Road. After 1.5km turn right onto Eastern Boundary Road, and carpark is about 1km on right just before Tree Adventures on left (note Google maps doesn't show these forestry roads well, but can zoom in to see road names). This is a very large carpark. We'll gather somewhere visible in carpark not far from entrance.
• Best if most people meet at New World first for carpooling and to get exact directions, but if this is too far out of your way then okay to go straight to Woodhill carpark - let us know.

Time Guideline :

• 09:15 - Good time to arrive at New World, meet and greet
• 09:30 - Latest time to arrive at New World, arrange carpooling
• 09:35 - Leave New World by now
• 10:15 - Arrive at Woodhill Forest, introductions
• 10:30 - Start hike
• 16:00 - Approx finish hike, go to Parakai
• 18:00 - Approx leave Parakai
• 19:00 - Approx return to city

Parakai Hot Pools :
After the hike there is an option to go to Parakai hot pools. Continue up SH16 to Helensville and turn left at T-junction to Parakai. Hot pools are about 3km further on Parkhust Road. There are 2 options, depending what group prefers:

• Parakai Springs (http://www.parakaisprings.co.nz/), 150 Parkhurst Road on right, admission $17, includes hydroslides.
• Palm Springs (http://www.nzhotpools.co.nz/hot-pools/palm-springs-parakai), 155 Parkhurst Road on left, admission $13, basic facilities.

Bring :

• lunch and drink
• suitable clothing for winter
• suitable footwear for variety of terrain
• rain protection
• swimming gear and towel for hot pools
• compass (if you have one)
• whistle or something to make loud sound
• first-aid items
• money (see costs below)

Costs :

• $10 if you are a carpool passenger (please give this to your driver)
• $13 or $17 if going to hot pools (depending where we go) + optional extra for refreshments, etc.

Notes :
(1) 9:30am is the latest time to arrive at New World, and 10:15am is the latest time to arrive at Woodhill carpark if going straight there. We'll aim to leave New World and start hike exactly on time. Arriving early is good :-)
(2) We did this hike 2 years ago on 26 July 2009 (https://www.meetup.com/auckland-hiking/events/10854845/). It took about 5½ hours to complete the walk that day.
(3) The biological reserve is has a myriad of tracks for walking and horse riding. The main walking track has posts with walking symbols but this is not always easy to follow. Some tracks and forestry roads are signposted better than others.
(4) We'll aim to hike together closely as a group with stops at junctions, but there's no guarantee this will happen, so prepare for this hike as best you can (study maps and description, familiarise yourself with layout and names of forestry roads, etc).
(5) We'll walk at usual moderate pace with stops at places of interest along the way, and a lunch stop on the beach.
(6) High tide is just after 11am. We'll be walking on beach about 2-3 hours after this, but may still need to watch out for high waves in places.
(7) Rangatira Beach extends north of Muriwai Beach. Maps differ on where Muriwai Beach ends and Rangatira begins, but the DOC sign calls it Rangatira Beach.

See you there :-)